Since Sky's infections are under control and her weight loss is SLOWLY happening, thought I would update and let people know her status. In the next month we will start working towards having her knee fixed and get this girl ready for adoption. She is an AWESOME dog. Woowoo's I love you and in general is a fun, animal safe sweetheart. Hoepfulyl Karla will weigh in as well. She LOVES her. Some family is going to be VERY lucky to add this gal to their family.

i would gladly give her a wonderful home if you cant find someone up north. 2 things, i would need to make sure she doesnt have any territorial issues (food, sleeping, etc.) and i live in northern cal.

Territorial issues with humans, none. Or should would not be available through us. She is currently in a multi animal house and does well with the other dogs. Even a pushy pug. You are welcome to fill out an application for her. You can download one from our adoptable dogs page. http://drawrescue.webs.com/adoptabledogs.htmJust email it to the email addy on the same page when completed. Northern CA should be easily doable if you are serious.

yeah, i meant if you had a chance to see what she is like while eating and sleeping with other dogs. this is one of the most overlooked behavior. dogs can get along great but a trigger can be switched in certain situations.

yep - what vi said...none of my dogs are fed together, so I can't help ya there. She sleeps (most nights) in her crate, but has also spent the evening sleeping with my female pug and male pit bull on the bed with us and have had no problems. I have not attempted to let her sleep on the bed with my female pit, purely because my female is a bit...unpredictable...with other dogs.

I don't visit PBF very often anymore, but I was looking for pictures of Sky from her first day in rescue and came across this thread again. Nearly 2.5 years later, the old lady is still with DRAW...more specifically, she is still with me. That being said, I have a sad update. The Monday before Christmas, I discovered a squishy bump on her neck. I didn't think much, because the old lady has lumps and bumps, and the vet (after a couple of fine needle aspirations) has told me not to worry so much, so I didn't. Fast forward to the Friday before Christmas...I was sitting on the couch, with her head in my lap and discovered two more bumps, the same size as the first, and no where near as squishy. I quickly felt the first bump again, and was just as hard. We immediately left for the vet..

Upon arrival at the vet, I explained my concerns. He kneeled down and started feeling around and the look on his face changed. He showed me several more bumps that I hadn't even noticed, and then I kind of tuned out after hearing "...most likely lymphoma..."

The next day was Christmas Eve. The phone rang and it was the office manager from the clinic...I could tell from her tone that it was not good news. She simply said "It's lymphosarcoma. Come up and get some prednisone and you can talk to the vet about it." I immediately left the house, still trying to think positive thoughts. The clinic was busy, so I waited my turn....finally she (the office manager) called my name and handed me a bottle of prednisone, a copy of her bloodwork results and a piece of paper that stated that a biopsy was recommended to determine the type of cancer. I asked to speak to the vet, she told me he wasn't available. I asked about a biopsy and she said "The doctor doesn't think it would be helpful at this point. Give her the prednisone, and come back when you need a refill."

I calmly left, even though I was burning inside and felt the rush of tears threatening to break the dam at any moment. There was a rep from another rescue in the waiting room, and I didn't want to lose my cool in front of her. However, the minute I pulled out of the parking lot, I lost it. The flood of emotion was overwhelming - sadness, fear, anger...I actually had to pull over for a bit to get a grip.

Christmas Even and Christmas Day were a blur. I called our holistic vet on Monday, but they were closed. I called my local vet (the previous vet we saw is the one our rescue uses, especially in emergencies, as they are open 7am to 11pm at standard rates) and they were open - we went right in. I explained the situation, gave them the paperwork we had received from the other vet, and told them I wanted a second opinion. I saw a vet that I had never met before. He was kind, Sky loved him, and he highly recommended a biopsy so that we knew specifically what we were dealing with - b-cell, t-cell, what stage, etc. He also told me that lyphosarcoma was highly treatable and he knew of a few great oncologists in the area. All in all, he was the exact opposite of the previous vet who had basically sent her home to die. She had her biopsy the next morning.

In my gut, I knew he was sugarcoating things. I called our holistic vet on Wednesday and explained the situation...we went in the next day. He finally gave me what I wanted...the truth, and what he would do if Sky was his. He spent quite a bit of time explaining every option we had, and what we could expect from each option. She is 12-ish years old, and every one of her lymph nodes has a mass (from what I have read, this indicates at least Stage 3.) In the end, before getting the results of the biopsy, I had pretty much made up my mind - I am going to keep her as comfortable as I can for as long as I can, but I am not going to attempt to cure her for my own selfish reasons. We left with prednisone (a different dosage than previously prescribed) and a herbal lymphatic supplement, and the knowledge that there were other things he could do to help keep her comfortable without destroying her quality of life.

Last Saturday, I finally got the results of the biopsy back...high grade (read: highly aggressive) b-cell aggressive. So, she has a highly aggressive version of the least aggressive type of lymphoma :-( The last thing the vet said to me was that in his experience, dogs with this same diagnosis generally live 12 months *WITH* aggressive chemotherapy. Yep, pretty sure I have made the right decision...it does not make it any easier, but at least I am at peace with my choice.

So, no...Skybelle was never adopted, but she has been home since she arrived.